Storytelling Assignment - Ben Sundock

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/new-york-city-crime-report-with-pat-dixon/the-last-podcast-on-the-left/e/52868701

Context: The Last Podcast on the Left, Episode 300: Jonestown Part I - Everyone in the World is My Friend. Hosted by Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks, and Henry Zebronski.

This episode was released January 12, 2018, and is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, and Sticher.

Synopsis: This episode, which runs 1 hour and 46 minutes, is the first of a five-part series discussing the cult and city involved with the cult known as Jonestown. The hosts dive deeply into the habits and doings of the cult leader, Jim Jones, and lay out how he became the leader of the crazy cult.

This first episode is solely focused on the build-up to the forming of the cult so it is mainly presenting background information and facts that are necessary for someone to understand the scope of the cult's power and who the leader is.

Form: Much like "Serial", the podcast uses musical transitions and recordings of interviews with the people being discussed. There are a few recordings of Jim Jones speaking about himself and his religion earlier in his life that do a good job setting the scene for the next four parts of the series.

The hosts also do a couple funny things such as cursing repeatedly, openly mocking the events they are describing, and give the listener insight into what they are doing in the show. For example, 15 minutes in at the end of Act 1, one of the hosts literally says, "And that's act one right there."

This style of talking and the way all three personalities go about presenting evidence and laying out the story makes it seem less like an educational listen and more like listening to a group of three guys tell a story at a bar. With the language and humor involved in a very dark story, it makes it educational and comedic at the same time which I greatly enjoyed.